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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26673940">Armor</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilhawkeye3/pseuds/lilhawkeye3'>lilhawkeye3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Slow Death [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst and Tragedy, CC-1010 | Fox Needs A Hug, Depression, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Please Check On Your Friends, Suicidal Thoughts, Unhappy Ending</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 13:08:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>497</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26673940</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilhawkeye3/pseuds/lilhawkeye3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Fox doesn't know who he'd be without his armor.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>A Slow Death [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1940872</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>82</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Armor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Was gonna include this in “Dead Man Walking” but it didn’t fit so here it is separately.</p><p>Please don't read this if you're having a bad day.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There are benefits to his armor.</p><p>Sure, there were all the expected reasons for this. It held up well against physical weapons like blades, many of which were slashed his way in the course of his role guarding Coruscant. It protected him from falls and blasts— up to a point, but it was enough to keep him intact. It was a safety barrier between him and the world.</p><p>But there were other benefits to the red and white plastoid that they didn’t teach him about on Kamino. Things he didn’t know until later, as they became necessary.</p><hr/><p>His chest plate was a shield.</p><p>Yes, against attacks that might kill him, but also against verbal questions that could make him crumble if anyone could see what he looked like underneath. It wasn’t the scars he worried about— no, those reminded him he was alive. It was the fact that his ribs were starting to show, after having eaten less recently than regulations required. Far less.</p><p>He wasn’t sure if it was because he was avoiding the scores of troopers that were ever present in the mess hall. Maybe it was just because his actions had sickened himself to much to eat. Nothing would stay down anyways. There was no point in trying.</p><p>But at least his chest plate kept him shielded from their eyes.</p><hr/><p>His hand guards were barriers.</p><p>Yes, they served to protect him when he aimed his blaster or pointed his fingers, keeping an otherwise vulnerable appendage guarded. But they had a second task as well.</p><p>When his hands were shaking— whether due to stress, anxiety, lack of sleep or food— he was able to clench his fingers to his palms and keeps his hands at his sides. The hand guards blocked the view of how tightly his fist was balled, how hard he had to dig his fingers in to keep himself standing upright without swaying.</p><p>But they gave him an extra barrier to pretend everything was fine, and no one was the wiser.</p><hr/><p>His helmet was a mask.</p><p>For most troopers, their helmets were their faces. They colored them in splashes of paint unique to just them, to better stand out amongst a sea of identical features.</p><p>For Fox, his helmet meant he could keep his face hidden at all times. No one could see the permanent dark circles under his eyes. Now on could see how hollow his cheeks had become. No one could see his deadened gaze or the dried tear tracks down his jaw. No one could see he hadn’t shaved in weeks.</p><p>Fox’s helmet was a mask that allowed him to keep his appearance as a clone trooper, when the reality was he was merely a ghost, waiting to be set free.</p><hr/><p>But thus was the benefit of clone trooper armor. It graciously kept Fox alive through the worst Coruscant could throw at him… and it kept him alive when he wished for nothing but the warm embrace of after.</p>
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